Then I played through it again and
didn’t save the world, but I did
unleash an unspeakable horror upon
it. Also, this one time? I straight-up
poisoned a guy with some plants
because he was a little
bit rude to me.
Strange Horticulture
takes place almost
entirely behind the
counter of the plant
shop, as each day
customers visit one by
one. Sometimes they
know the name of the
plant they’re looking for, but usually
they only have a few small details:
they know it has red flowers, or that
it cures a stomach ailment, or that it’s
a nice decorative plant for a wedding.
Using the few details each customer
gives me, I look through the plants on
my shelf, dragging them onto my
desk for a closer examination. Then I
flip through the pages in my botany
book, which contains plant names,
drawings and descriptions, to try to
figure out which plant to give my
current customer. Every person who
enters my shop presents me with a
tiny little mystery, and thanks to the
beautiful and gently animated plants
and elaborate descriptions in my
botany book, they’re always a
pleasure to solve.
It’s wonderfully tricky, too,
especially as my inventory slowly
grows from just a few plants to a
massive collection of nearly 80. My
botany book fills with new entries,
giving me a lengthy tome to page
through while I play plant detective.
Patience and close scrutiny are
required: just because a plant has
heart-shaped leaves doesn’t mean
that it’s the only plant with heart-shaped leaves, and sometimes even
details about the scent of the plant,
the number of petals on a flower, or
how its leaves feel under my fingers
come into play.
Along with helping
customers in the shop,
there’s a large map to
unfold on your desk,
which you can click on
to visit its locations.
Exploring the map is
usually the result of
receiving a letter from
the mailman or getting
cryptic messages each evening after
you close your shop. The map is the
other half of Strange Horticulture’s
detective experience, where youdecode clues to discover the location
of new plants or events.LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Beyond the customers looking for
herbs to cure their ailments, there are
recurring characters who repeatedly
visit the shop with a grander purpose.
There’s a mysterious dark entity out
there, slowly growing in power and
threatening the land. Some of the
characters you meet want to banish it
back into the darkness, while others
want to control it, or kill it, or
worship it. There’s a branching
storyline and multiple endings,
depending on the choices you make.
And there’s all sorts of satisfying
fiddly business to do as you play. Your
book, map, letters, clue-filled notes,
magnifying lens and other items can
be dragged around, set down on your
desk, or stored in your desk drawer
which can open and close. At the end
of each day I found myself arranging
all the new plants I’d gained that day,
tidying up my desk, putting
everything in its correct
compartment in the drawer, and
closing it as if I were really running a
plant shop and wanted to keep things
neat and organised. Did I mention
that you have a cat? You can pet it
and it’ll purr happily.
And while I love the main
storyline of witchcraft and demons
and obsessed cultists, I’m mostly just
happy to study all those beautiful
flowers and herbs and mushrooms,
flip through my growing book of
plants, and affix bright little labels to
everything I’ve correctly identified.
Maybe people think I’m just a small
plant shop owner solving puzzles.
But I know the truth. I’m the world’s
greatest plant detective. And you
really shouldn’t be rude to me.90
A beautiful and
fascinating detective
game packed with
mysteries, puzzles,
and intrigue.VERDICTT
his is the best detective game I’ve played in years, and it’s
mostly about staring at plants. As the new owner of a small
shop in a quaint little town, I’ve only got three things at my
disposal: a small collection of unusual and unidentified plants,
an ageing botany book with a handful of entries, and my wits.
With them I manage to solve dozens of wonderful little mysteries,
untangle a few major ones, and even save the world.FLOWER POWER
Become a botanical detective in the engrossing STRANGE HORTICULTURE
By Christopher LivingstonThere’s all sorts
of satisfying
fiddly business
to do as
you playNEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
A deeply compelling
puzzle game about
identifying plants and
solving mysteries
EXPECT TO PAY
£13
DEVELOPER
Bad Viking
PUBLISHER
Iceberg Interactive
REVIEWED ON
RTX 2080, Intel
i7-9700K , 16GB RAM
MULTIPLAYER
No
LINK
iceberg-games.com/
strange-horticultureSUPER SLEUTH
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The freelance police track down a
missing Yeti by solving absurd
puzzles in roadside America.RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Fifty-one people perished on this
ship, and you’ll find out how by
visiting the scene of each death.Strange Horticulture
REVIEW